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Nessari's eyes darted between Isaac and Zolas. The general continued to glare at Isaac with eyes that could crack stone, and Isaac stared back with what looked like mild curiosity. Nessari dread to know what he was thinking about doing.

She had hoped that Isaac wouldn't anger Zolas's, but it looked like it was going to head down that path anyway. When this would inevitably end horrifically, Nessari could take solace in the fact that she at least tried to keep it from happening.

Damik, unsurprisingly, looked terrified. Out of all the council members, it just had to be that bastard. He'd sooner sell out his mother than risk his own tail, and was one of the members that voted against going to war. The coward that would have left Isaac to rot was now the Union's representative to him. Fucking poetic.

The counselor seemed to also notice that the tension was rising, and tried to use the brief silence to regain control over the conversation.

"Isaac Migalski, please excuse Ms. Zolas. We are grateful you chose to contact us."

Ms. Zolas!? That spiteful little shit. The general shot a quick glance at Damik, but otherwise ignored the slight.

Isaac turned his attention to the councilor; a barely noticeable flash of annoyance crossed his face. "Dominick, was it?" He paused briefly. Damik opened his mouth to correct him, but Isaac just continued anyway. "Dominick, I'd like to answer the general's questions, if you don't mind. And please just call me Isaac." He smiled in a way that was in equal parts both friendly and frightening.

'Dominick' froze, "O-oh, okay." He retreated back into his chair.

Isaac returned to Zolas, who now looked somewhat pleased. "I suppose I should start by saying thanks for trying to rescue me. Even if I didn't need it, as I've told Nessari, it's the thought that counts." He held his hand to his heart.

It wasn't difficult for Nessari to pick up on his minor sarcasm. She just hoped that Zolas wouldn't realize it as well.

Isaac continued, "As for why I am still here. I would love to leave, but it is unfortunately impossible."

"What is stopping you?" Zolas asked sternly.

"Well I don't exactly feel like giving a lesson on how FTL travel works, but to put it simply: I used a one-way door to get here, but there is no door to leave." He gave her a wide smile. "Oh, and I called because I wanted to say hi and give you a gift."

Her interest was piqued, but she remained cautious. "Explain."

"While I was enjoying the Empire's hospitality, my ship's AI hacked into nearly everything they had. It was how I was able to escape then so easily. I could cripple their entire nation with a simple command, I have access to:" He counted on his fingers, "financial systems, military communications, location of every secret facility, electrical grid, -"

Nessari was sure Zolas would eventually deduce, like she did, that Isaac also had access to nuclear weapons, but hopefully it would take some ti-

"-and their nukes," Isaac smiled.

Nessari's head snapped towards him, wide-eyed. Why? Why did he do that? She looked back at Damik and Zolas. The counselor looked absolutely horrified, and the general's face hardened.

The silence did not last long, but it felt like it stretched to eternity. Zolas tapped her claws on the table and then leaned in, "Isaac, do you intend to use these nukes to get revenge on the Empire?"

He was about to say no, but stopped himself and thought for a moment. "Hypothetically, what if I was?"

Nessari felt like screaming at him. She didn't know what he was doing or why he was trying so hard to anger Zolas. Was he trying to scare her? There was no way Isaac would use the nukes. Right?

Damik mustered enough courage to speak, his voice was shaky. "Isaac Migalski, please, we will give-"

"Hypothetically!?" Zolas shouted, "What if you hypothetically killed millions?"

Isaac calmly shrugged, "Ya." He ignored Damik, and his interest in Zolas seemed to grow.

The general stood up out of her chair and leaned into the camera with her hands on the table. "Well then, hypothetically, I'd ride a rocket up there to hypothetically shove my foot down your throat. Fuck your hypotheticals. Are you or are you not going to be a problem that I'm going to have to deal with? If you even think of launching a nuke anywhere on Kavik, I will not rest until your head is mounted on my wall, alien. And that's not a fucking hypothetical."

A cold shiver ran down Nessari's spine, and Damik looked as though he was about to faint. This entire meeting went as poorly as Nessari could have imagined. Worse, actually. She looked at Isaac, and after studying Zolas for a while longer, a wide smile spread across his face.

"I like you."

All three sivlans stood dumbfounded by Isaac's words, and just gawked at him for a time. Zolas's fiery anger diminished slightly in her confusion. "What?"

"Don't get me wrong, you're an overconfident asshole, but so am I, so I can't really fault you for that. I was just curious to see if that bravado of yours was just an act, and I'm glad to see it wasn't. I would have been disappointed if you started pissing your pants and groveling at the first sign of danger like your colleague did." Isaac looked to the councilor, who still was in a state of terror.

Zolas stopped leaning into the camera and stood up straight. Isaac's remark about Damik seemed to relax her demeanor a bit more. "You threatened my planet simply to see how I'd react?"

"It was only a hypothetical." He said, as if it made it any better. "I have absolutely no intention of launching any missile, nuclear or otherwise. In fact, I can make sure no one launches any missiles. Now, let's talk about that gift I mentioned earlier. I'm going to relay all of the Empire's communications to you. It should be pretty easy to win a war when you know the enemy's every move. Andy, my ship's AI, will be in contact with you; feel free to ask him anything you want. "

"I'll believe it when I see it." She took a deep breath, calming herself. "Just don't threaten my planet again, even hypothetically." She sat back down. "What do you plan on doing next since you can't leave?"

"I'm going to hang out in orbit for a bit longer, I don't feel like I'm ready to head down planetside just yet. Andy will let you know when I'm coming down."

Zolas looked to Nessari. "And are you fine with this Bekleel?"

Nessari glanced at Isaac. She wondered why he didn't mention Patam, but decided she'd ask him after. "Yes, I'm happy to stay up here. As I said, Isaac has been very kind, even if he can sometimes be…" she looked at him, he gave her a toothy smile. "Difficult."

"Then I will await your arrival, Isaac," said Zolas, "In the meantime, you can be sure I'll be asking this AI of yours plenty of questions."

"I don't doubt it. See ya later Commander General Zolas," Isaac said. "Oh, and bye Damik." The mention of his name snapped the councilor out of his stupor, but the feed cut before he could respond. As soon as it was cut, Isaac spun to face Nessari. "Alright, listen, I'm sorry. Okay? You were right, I couldn't help myself, but it didn't turn out too bad. I think it went well."

She rubbed her face and sighed. "I can't believe you did that." She crossed her arms. "But I guess you're right, it didn't turn out too awful." She looked out the once again transparent windows. "Why didn't you mention Patam?"

"I was worried Zolas would object to me going, and it's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. Speaking of." He looked up at the ceiling. "Andy, please chart a course for Patam, also remember to give the lovely general her gift."

"Certainly," said Andy, as the ship began to back away from the satellite. "We should arrive in about three hours."

Isaac moved to leave the bridge, "Feel free to stay up here and continue to enjoy the view. And remember Nessari, you said it yourself, human diplomacy is weird."

"But effective," she grumbled as the door closed behind her. She stayed on the bridge, watching as the Nomad turned away from Kavik and began speeding through the void.

-------------------------

"Two minutes until touchdown." Andy's voice echoed through the cargo hold

Nessari, Isaac, and Pik-Ta sat on the boxes in the hold. They put on rebreather masks, and waited for the ship to land on the surface of Patam. The planet had enough atmosphere to not require a full suit but it still lacked oxygen. Isaac walked up to the silvan and held out a pistol. Nessari looked down at the gun and then back up at the human, surprised.

"What?" he asked, "You plan on shooting me?"

"No," she said.

"Then why should I worry?" He jiggled the gun in his hand. "Take it. Who knows what we'll find in there. Better safe than sorry."

Nessari took the pistol from Isaac and examined it. "Uh, thanks."

The Nomad jostled as the landing gears touched the ground. Rider's voice came over the speakers. "We have arrived."

The back wall dropped down to show a barren, rocky field, and a few hundred feet from where they landed, was a large hill. 

Andy spoke through their headsets. "I've pinpointed the signal coming from a cave under that hill across the way."

Pik-Ta's ears perked up. "Sweet, if there’s a cave-in blocking the way, maybe I'll get to use the laser bore."

Isaac looked down at the excited luxarian. "You mean that old, busted piece of mining equipment? You still have it?" He said, shocked, "That thing nearly burned you alive last time you used it."

"Isaac, look at my face." She pointed at herself, bringing attention to her burn scars. The largest one made it so that her brown fur could not grow around her two right eyes. "You think I give a shit about burns? I wanna use the big laser."

"What, are you trying to build an immunity to fire or something?" he scoffed. "Hate to break it to you, but that's not how that works. You're too small to even hold the thing."

Pik-Ta walked down the ramp backwards, and casually flipped Isaac off. She turned forward and started walking towards the cave. Nessari and Isaac followed.

The trio walked across the open field and approached the entrance of the cave.  Isaac took out his flashlight and shined it down the winding, dark cave.

Pik-Ta looked up at Isaac and gestured towards the darkness. "Age before beauty."

"Ya big baby," Isaac mumbled and entered the cave, followed by the others. The shadows grew around them as they continued deeper in. Isaac pointed his flashlight to the ground in front of himself, making sure not to trip. A faint glow appeared further down, just around the corner.

When the group rounded the bend, they came before a large metal door embedded in the stone wall. It was illuminated by dim blue lights lining the frame.

"Aw man, no cave-in," Pik-Ta muttered under her breath. "Are we sure this is a Pathfinder ruin? It doesn't look too ruined to me."

"Nessari, you sure sivlans haven't set foot on Patam?" Isaac joked.

"I think I'd know if we colonized Patam," she retorted. "We've only ever sent drones. Never found anything like this though."

Pik-Ta put her hands on her hips and stared at the door. "Alright, how do we plan on opening this thing?"

"Explosives could work," Isaac shrugged.

"Oh ya, sure, the cave will definitely react well to explosives." Pik-Ta looked at Isaac with an annoyed expression.

"It was just a suggestion." He smirked, "It'd give you the cave-in you wanted."

Nessari noticed a black square on the wall next to the door. "What's this?" She walked up to it.

Isaac looked over to her. "Dunno. If I had to guess, it looks like a scanner of some kind. It's probably how this door was meant to be opened."

Nessari curiously placed her hand on the square. A blue line appeared under her hand and started moving up and down the square.

Pik-Ta crossed her arms. "If that's a scanner, I could try to rewire it, but I don't know if I'd be able to understa-"

The door opened.

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